[Prevention reporting-a new impetus for health reporting?]

In 2015 the "Act to Strengthen Health Promotion and Prevention" (German Prevention Act) was passed. This act stipulates reporting on its implementation and impact by means of a regular prevention report by the National Prevention Conference. It also furthers prevention reporting at the regional level in the federal states. There are varying approaches and concepts of prevention reporting.The first prevention report by the National Prevention Conference was published in 2019. In the federal states, prevention reporting develops in different ways and at different rates, mirroring the heterogeneous conditions and concepts at the local level. This includes a varied interpretation of the relation of health reporting to prevention reporting: some see prevention reporting as part of health reporting, others tend not to and focus on aspects like the reporting of prevention structures and interventions.Challenges for the future of prevention reporting include the development of indicators and identification of data sources, particularly regarding resources for health, structural aspects, and living conditions. Further tasks are the development of feasible approaches to survey and report prevention interventions as well as the attempt to report outcomes and effects within causal models instead of merely reporting inputs and outputs.In conclusion, the dynamic induced by the German Prevention Act serves as a stimulus to health reporting-with a view to its contents, methods and policy relevance. Research to accompany and support the development of prevention reporting would be highly desirable.